COLUMBUS, Ohio – The defending national champion Ohio State fencing squad opened 2005 play with wins over four opponents Sunday at the New York University Duals in New York, N.Y. Both the men’s and women’s squads went 4-0 in dual action. The Buckeyes topped Columbia, Notre Dame, New York and Stanford.

The men defeated Stanford, 21-6 and New York, 20-7. Buckeye junior Jason Rogers (Los Angeles, Calif./Brentwood) registered six wins in sabre for the team against Stanford and New York, while sophomore Boaz Ellis (Moshav Zippori, Israel/Chaklai Nahalal) had five wins in foil against Stanford and New York. The Buckeyes went 17-10 overall against Columbia, shutting out the Lions, 9-0, in epee, 5-4 in foil and fell 3-6 in sabre competition. Against Notre Dame, Ohio State topped the Fighting Irish 16-11 overall with a 7-2 mark in sabre, 6-3 score in foil and fell, 3-6 in epee.

On the women’s side, the Buckeyes knocked off New York and Stanford, 19-8 respectively. The women faced tough challenges against Columbia and Notre Dame as the Buckeyes edged both opponents, 14-13. Against Columbia, Ohio State went 2-7 in epee and 6-3 in both the foil and sabre events. The Buckeyes pulled past Notre Dame by scores of 5-4 in epee, 4-5 in foil and 5-4 in sabre competition. Eileen Grench (Davis, Calif./Davis), Siobhan Byrne (Eislingen, Germany/Freihof) and Amelia Gaillard (Fayetteville, Ga./Counterpane) aided in sabre wins over Columbia and Notre Dame, while Hanna and Metta Thompson (Rochester, N.Y./East) led in foil wins over the Lions and Irish, respectively. The Buckeyes are back in action Jan. 29-30 at the Notre Dame Duals in South Bend, Ind. Last season at the Notre Dame duals, the men went 8-1 in duals action falling to No. 1 Notre Dame, 15-12. The women picked up seven team wins and suffered just two losses to Notre Dame (14-13) and Northwestern (17-10).